"Not hammer-strokes, but dance of the water, sings the pebbles into perfection."
— Rabindranath Tagore

Saturday, November 27, 2010

BOMBS AWAY, YEMEN VERSION

With no debate or vote in Congress, Obama has ordered Special Forces (they are so *special* that they get to hang around in 75+ different foreign countries!) and drone bombings into Yemen. He is going after the “al Qaeda” in Yemen group, although I cannot tell if they are associated with the original 2001 version of al Qaeda or knock off wantabees. I do know that some folks from Yemen have tried to bomb us, but they are apparently totally incompetent. This is a good thing, because the US authorities are totally incompetent at stopping them.

But hey, they got that BOMBS AWAY thing down! They DO know how to BOMB AND BOMB AND BOMB!

Under the Bush administration, there was one drone bombing of Yemen. The CIA shot down a car with six people (one an American) inside it. They claim there was a terrorist inside the car, but I don’t know how they could even get a DNA sample after blowing the car to bits. Hardly any one in the US seemed to care about this blatantly illegal and immoral act. No one seemed to notice that bombing this terrorist was far more stupid than arresting him and seeing what he knew – or even if he was innocent or guilty. The whole idea of doing stuff like arresting people before execution or even the idea of “innocent until proven guilty” is so passé here in the USA these days.

But Obama really has outstripped Bush in the BOMBS AWAY GAME in Yemen.

* Dec. 17, 2009: Dozens of people are killed after missiles hit settlements in the Abyan area in the south of Yemen. Citing a Yemeni parliamentary investigation, Amnesty International later says that 55 people were killed, of which 41 were civilians, including 14 women and 21 children. 14 of the 55 were suspected Al Qaeda members, though an Amnesty official tells Salon that only one was ever named. The strike is initially reported as being conducted by "Yemeni security forces." But ABC reports a few days later that U.S. missiles were involved. Amnesty releases a report several months later with photos of an unexploded cluster bomblet and parts of a Tomahawk cruise missile that the group says could only have come from the U.S. military, possibly launched from a submarine or warship.

* May 25, 2010: An air strike kills four people including Jaber al-Shabwani, the deputy governor of Ma’rib, a mistake for which the Yemeni government apologizes. There are reports that the strike was carried out by a U.S. drone, not the Yemeni military, but those are not confirmed.

Of course, Amnesty International claims there was more bombings than this – and I strongly suspect they are correct – but we don’t have the information yet. We do know that far more people are killed than the number of people targeted, and that they are mainly non-combatants. As a matter of fact, a large number of them are children.

Too bad about the dead children, not that many Americans would notice or give a shit. Obama sure doesn’t. He is planning some more drone bombings in Yemen, and more “cooperation” with the Yemen government.

"These are serious human rights violations," Luther says. "The killing of criminal suspects -- who should be brought to justice -- in circumstances in which they aren't posing an immediate threat to life are, from a human rights perspective, extrajudicial killings."

Think anyone in the Obama administration will notice or care? I seriously doubt it. This administration is too fucking evil to care, along with most Americans. They are only going to escalate the BOMBS AWAY GAME.

On Dec. 16, 2010, Veterans for Peace, IVAW, and other anti-war groups will hold an action at the White House against these wars, occupations and BOMBS AWAY GAMES. This will be a civil disobedience action, and will show us the few Americans who have morals and are willing to stand against this evil. Join them if you care.